


Existance

by Kalua



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: (Like. 90 percent Comfort 10 percent Hurt. I want them to be happy first and foremost lol), F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Repliku gets his own name, Very mild hurt/comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 17:56:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20952518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalua/pseuds/Kalua
Summary: Now that he's finally complete again, there is one person he wants to meet - Naminé.





	Existance

He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he walked to her room. Naminé had been away when he’d woken up, out to see the world that had been kept from her for far too long. He had to admit to a bit of jealousy; he’d wanted to be the one to see it with her. But maybe he still could.

“Naminé?”

She looked up from the book she’d been reading, her eyes wide with confusion. “Riku? But…” She tilted her head a little to side. “You’re him, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. May I?” He gestured to the bed, and sat down once she nodded. “If it confuses you that we have the same name, I think I’ve heard someone refer to me as Repliku before.” He barely managed to stop himself from frowning; he wasn’t exactly fond of the idea that he’d be reminded of what he was all the time, but if it made being near him easier for Naminé, it’d be worth it.

But she shook her head. “No. You’re not just a replica, Riku. And I should apologize for what I did. I shouldn’t have messed with your memories, it wasn’t right of me.”

Now it was his turn to be surprised. “So you’ll just call me Riku?” Maybe he should have reacted more to the rest, but he still wasn’t quite used to existing.

“If that’s what you want me to call you. It’s your name, so you should get to choose.” After a moment of hesitation, she stood up and sat down next to him. “Your name doesn’t have to remind you of Riku at all, if you don’t want it to.”

He could just choose? Because… Yes, that was something he wanted. Something that wouldn’t serve to remind everyone that he was created as a simple copy of someone else. Now all he needed was a name… but having Naminé so close didn’t do much to help his focus. He could so easily reach over and take her hand, but what if that startled her? The last thing he wanted was to scare her away, make her uneasy.

“You don’t have to decide now, if you don’t want to.” Naminé’s gentle smile was breathtaking. He may have lost whatever manipulations she made to his memories or his feelings back when he’d merged with Riku, but what he’d seen during his time in Riku’s Heart had been more than enough to make him fall for her again.

“No, I… I want a name.” A name all of his own, as a sign that finally, his dream of being more than just a replica would come true. But which one? Naminé’s still had a connection to Kairi. Maybe he should do the same, pick a name related to earth so he’d match Riku? No, no, that didn’t fit. He already saw Riku whenever he looked into a mirror, he didn’t want to hear him whenever someone called his name. But what else was there? Was there something that could remind himself of his dream? Dream… maybe that was it.

He took a deep breath. “I’ll pick Yume.”

Naminé smiled, and for a moment, he was stunned. The smile seemed to light up her entire face, making her look almost like an angel—and distracting him enough that he almost missed her words. “That’s a beautiful name. Say, Yume, do you want to talk a walk through Radiant Garden with me? You haven’t been out of the Castle yet, right?” She stood up, and Yume quickly followed suit.

“I’d love to.” Another thing he’d love to do was take her hand, but he stopped himself just in time. Instead, Yume just followed her out the door and towards the castle gardens.

––––––––––––––––––

Naminé crouched down in front of some colorful flowers. “This is my favorite place in the city,” she said, smiling at the blossoms.

Yume crouched down next to her. The flowers were beautiful, though they couldn’t beat Naminé in that department. Still, he understood why she liked it here. “There weren’t many flowers in the Castle.”

A shadow clouded her face, and Yume immediately regretted his words. Why did he have to bring that up? But barely a heartbeat later Naminé smiled again and nodded. “No, and afterwards, I didn’t really get to leave the old mansion. It’s nice to be able to just sit here in the sun.” She turned her eyes away from the flowers to look at Yume instead. “But what do you want to see, Yume?”

Hearing her say his name made his heart skip a beat. It felt strange to _be_ someone, and almost enchanting to have Naminé acknowledge that he was. “Me? I… Don’t really have anything in mind.” Yume stood up again and shrugged. “Anywhere is fine.”

“Hm… Should I just show you the city, then?” As Naminé walked past him, towards the garden’s exit, their hands touched for just a moment.

It was nothing much, just her knuckles brushing against his, but for Yume it felt like a million tiny thunderbolts just surged through his arm; out of sheer surprise, he pulled his hand away.

Naminé hurriedly stepped away. “I apologize, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No, no, it’s fine. You just surprised me.” Slowly, Yume lowered his hand again, and when they resumed walking, he made sure to be just as close as he was before.

Near the end of the garden path, Naminé carefully moved her hand towards Yume’s. Their fingers touched, and this time, he didn’t pull away. Could he really be this lucky? His heart felt like it was running a marathon when he intertwined his fingers with hers, carefully, scared she’d change her mind.

But she didn’t. Instead, Naminé looked up at him to give him a reassuring smile, and so they left the garden hand in hand.

––––––––––––––––––

Naminé was right, it was nice to feel the sunlight, the road under his feet, to just _be_. Before now, at best Yume had been able to feel an echo of what Riku did, but it wasn’t comparable to this.

Some of the townspeople smiled at them as Naminé led him to the fountain court, where the spray of the waterfalls painted small rainbows into the sky.

“Do you want to look at it a while longer?” Naminé asked. When Yume nodded, she walked over to the nearest bench; since Yume still held her hand, he followed and sat down next to her.

For a few moments, the only sound was the water; the city’s noise didn’t reach this place. Yume was finally free, able to go where he wanted to, and he was with Naminé. It was everything he’d wanted.

“Naminé?” He waited until she looked at him. “Is this even real?”

Naminé averted her eyes again, looking down at the ground now instead of the fountains. “I hope so. It feels too good to be true, doesn’t it?” Her fingers trembled, and Yume quickly put his other hand on top of hers as she raised her head again. “But… Sometimes, good things can happen. And I don’t think I’d be dreaming for weeks, or that we could be having the same dream right now. So it has to be real.”

What she said made sense, so why was it so hard for Yume to believe it? He looked at her, saw how the sun was reflected in her flaxen hair and how it danced on her skin. He wanted this to be real. He wanted her to be real, wanted _himself_ to be real. But could he be? Could he really be more than a replica, more than Riku’s shadow? Could he—

“Yume.” Naminé’s voice interrupted his thoughts. Gently, she tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, the touch sending shivers down his spine. “This _is_ real. Trust me.”

She looked so certain. Maybe, just maybe, he could dare to hope. Yume nodded. “All right.” Naminé’s hand was still cupping his cheek, so he laid his own over it.

Naminé shifted her position and wrapped his arms around him. For a second, Yume was stunned, before he embraced her and pulled her just a little bit closer. Real or not, for a moment, just _being_ was all that mattered.

––––––––––––––––––

“You’re still worried about something.” They were headed towards a different part of the town now, but Yume had been silent for most of the way.

He glanced at Naminé. “So are you, aren’t you?”

She just nodded. “I’m thankful that I get to be myself, instead of just being a part of Kairi, but… I wonder why they tried to get me out. I was never meant to exist in the first place, even less than other Nobodies, so I thought it would only be natural if I went back to being part of her.”

Yume’s head whipped around. So many things he wanted to say at once—how Naminé had every right to exist, how good it was that she did, how much she deserved existing—but he didn’t know how to say it. So instead, he just stared at her for a moment, before finally stammering out some words. “Naminé, you… There’s so much about you that’s not Kairi, of course you should get to be you!”

“But you worry about the same thing, don’t you?”

How could she read him so well? Hesitant, Yume nodded. “I’ve _wanted_ to be my own person, but that’s just not what I was made to be. I was made so that other people could use Riku’s power, nothing more. At least you just… happened instead of being made.”

Naminé squeezed his hand, silently telling him that at least they were in this together.

––––––––––––––––––

They were watching the sunset together, back in the castle garden. Naminé had shown Yume around, taken him to her favorite places, but the spot she liked best still were the flowerbeds.

“You know, Naminé… Even if we were never supposed to exist, I think I’m glad we do.” Yume gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Just a few hours ago, he’d been scared she’d flinch away from his touch, but he needn’t have worried—on the contrary, Naminé didn’t just accept it, she slightly leaned into his hand. Even the sunset paled against how beautiful Naminé looked now, bathed in its gentle orange light. She was breathtaking.

Yume barely even noticed when he leaned in closer, not until Naminé crossed the remaining distance and their lips touched. Hers were so much softer than Yume could have imagined, the taste of vanilla ice cream still on them.

He could still feel Riku’s shadow lingering over him, saw it in the eyes of the people he passed and in the reflection in the mirror. But right now, with no-one around but Naminé, he felt that maybe he could step out of it one day.

**Author's Note:**

> It's my first RepliNami x3 They're cute together. And it's the second fic I did for the KH Rarepair Zine :D


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